Gauchos Take Two Over Santa Clara to Close Out UCSB Mini Tourney

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
Senior Liz Walters hit her third homerun of the weekend and freshman pitcher Lindsey Correa retired 15 consecutive batters to highlight action on Sunday, the third and final day of the UC Santa Barbara Mini Tournament held at the Gauchos' Campus Diamond. UCSB picked up two wins over Santa Clara to finish the weekend with a 4-1 tournament record.

With the pair of wins, the Gauchos improve to 10-3 overall on the season and now are 8-1 at Campus Diamond in 2007.

In the first of two games between UCSB and Santa Clara, freshman pitcher Lindsey Correa threw her second complete game shutout of the season allowing only one hit in seven innings of work, walking one and striking out one. In fact, Correa retired the first fifteen batters she faced in order before the Broncos' Emily Batt managed a single to right field at the top of the order in the sixth inning. Tisha Duran was the standout player at the plate for the Gauchos as she went 3-for-3 with a homerun, an RBI and an additional run.

Batt was the only Santa Clara player to get a hit in as she went 1-for-2 during the game. Kaitlyn Rauschnot (0-4) took the loss for Santa Clara after giving up the game-winning run on four hits and one walk.

Santa Barbara was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Duran homered down the right field line to take a 1-0 lead. A single from sophomore second basemen Christine Ramos in the fifth drove in the second Gaucho run of the day and two runs in the sixth captured UCSB the 4-0 win.

The second pairing with the Broncos proved more difficult for the Gauchos as Santa Clara took the lead early with two runs in the first inning. A single to right field from Nori Kamada drove in Alyc Kalamaha for the Broncos first run of the day. On the next play, pinch runner Britney Sanford scored on a throw to bring the Santa Clara lead to 2-0.

The Gauchos got on the board at the top of the fourth when Brittany Putich singled to the shortstop to bring Duran in for her third run of the day, cutting the Santa Clara lead to 2-1. UCSB then tied the game up in the sixth when a single from Tiffany Wright brought Jessica Hejna home.

At the top of the seventh, Adrienne Anderson led off with a single up the middle and Walters' third homer of the weekend brought pinch runner Jessica Zeigler home to give the Gauchos a 4-2 lead heading into the bottom of the final inning. Angie Kabanuck got on base for the Broncos with a single up the middle and then advanced on a UCSB error before Jackie Morales doubled to left field driving her home. The next batter lined out securing the win for the Gauchos at 4-3.

Duran was once again solid for the Gauchos going 2-for-2 with one run while Brittany Putich was 2-for-3 with an RBI. MeLinda Matsumoto picked up the win after allowing only one run on two hits and striking out two. Matsumoto is now 5-0 on the season. Sophomore pitcher Tami Weston got the start and pitched five innings allowing two runs on three hits and tallied two strikeouts.

Kamada went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI while Morales was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Morales (0-3), who also pitched a complete game, took the loss after allowing four runs on nine hits and fanning two batters. Santa Clara fell to 1-14 on the season with the loss.

In other tournament action, UT San Antonio (5-10) captured a 6-1 win over Northern Illinois (5-4) during the first game of the day. Rudi Cantu went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI to lead the Roadrunners while pitcher Amanda Nikolenko (4-7) pitched a complete game allowing one run on seven hits and striking out two.

For the Huskies, Randi Kreiter went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored while Michelle Nendza was 1-for-3 and drove in the lone Northern Illinois run of the day. Hurler Kate Greenough (5-3), who pitched five complete games for the Huskies over the weekend, took the loss after allowing six runs on ten hits and striking out seven batters.

The Gauchos will travel out-of-state for the first time in 2007 next week when they head to Tempe, Arizona for the Sun Devil/Wilson DeMarini Invitational hosted by Arizona State. The Gauchos will face the Sun Devils as well as Houston, Utah Valley, University of North Florida and Creighton during the tournament that runs Friday, Mar. 2 through Sunday, Mar. 4.